


First Date

by derivedfromstrong



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Post-Iron Man 2, Pre-Avengers (2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 19:04:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12087414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/derivedfromstrong/pseuds/derivedfromstrong
Summary: Prompt: Pepper and Tony's first date.





	First Date

**Author's Note:**

> Re-posted from my Tumblr page: notgonnabesubtle. It was a prompt sent to me. I do not own the characters and am not affiliated with Marvel in any way, shape, or form (but I wish I was). Enjoy!

_Of all the outfits you own… you can’t find a damn one that’s right. Pull yourself together, Potts._ Pepper looked through the contents of her closet and was starting to get pissed when she couldn’t find something. She had an outfit for every occasion. Business slacks and a matching coat to match; pencil skirts that accentuated her slim figure; that strapless blue dress that worked for a nice event… but nothing in her closet was going to work for this occasion.

 

Nothing she currently owned was going to work for her first date with Tony Stark.

Looking at the time, Pepper approximated she had a couple hours before Tony was going to swing by her place to pick her up. Even though she wasn’t sure this was the right time to go out on a date, Tony assured her things would be fine. “I have this under control, we’ll be fine,” were Tony’s exact words. Except all she did was worry, because Pepper couldn’t think of the last time Tony had been on a date… actually, she couldn’t think of a single time at all. 

Exiting her closet, she grabbed her purse and went straight to her car. She had to find an outfit for tonight.

 

* * *

Tony found himself tapping his fingers on his workspace. His thoughts were usually moving a mile a minute, but today he felt especially confused. He asked Pepper out on a date… and she accepted the invitation. When she had been his assistant, Pepper was usually in charge of making all the reservations for his outings, but this was all different. Tony personally made reservations at Pepper’s favorite restaurant in Malibu and he was anxious. Dating wasn’t his thing. He hadn’t been in a casual relationship before. This was new. But it was also exciting.

It had been more than two months after their first kiss and Tony wondered if that was too long of a wait to ask her out on a date, but he wanted to do right by Pepper - she was not just another fling. Looking at the time, he still had a couple hours before he was going to pick her up, so he went to shower and get ready. He wanted to look good for her.

 

* * *

Staring at her reflection in the mirror, Pepper fixed a flyaway hair and sighed. “Well… this’ll have to do,” she told herself. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach and it was annoying her. Why was she so damn nervous. This was Tony. She’s known him for years, so this shouldn’t be so new to her. But, this was a date. They were going on a date. 

Even though she was ready, as soon as Pepper heard the buzzer and knew Tony was here, she felt nervous again. Pressing the speaker button, she was careful with her words. “I’ll be right down,” she told him. Grabbing her bag, she opened the door and was surprised to see Tony standing there, a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

“Oh…” Pepper smiled when she saw him. “Thank you, these are beautiful.”

Tony had been standing there for a moment, just waiting for her to open the door. So, when she did and she looked as breathtaking as she did, it made him grin. “You’re welcome. You look.. really nice.” She was standing before him in a simple black dress that didn’t look familiar to him and her hair was curled slightly, but it all looked amazing on her. 

“Thank you…” Pepper could tell Tony was choosing his words carefully and she chuckled. She grabbed a vase to put the flowers in and offered him a smile. “All right… so where are we headed?”

“It’s a surprise,” he told her. Tony showed her out of the apartment and to his car. He considered having Happy drive them, but that didn’t seem right. They weren’t going on a business meeting, they were going on a date. He wanted to prove to Pepper that he wasn’t just doing this to impress her. He wanted to show her that he really cared and wanted to thank her for everything she had done for him after all these years.

As they pulled up to the restaurant, Tony was glad to see there wasn’t any paparazzi outside. He hoped that they wouldn’t be bothered by anything tonight, so they could just focus on each other and have a little fun.

“Oh, I love this restaurant,” Pepper smiled as Tony pulled up to valet to have the car parked. 

Tony stepped out of the car first, tossing his keys to the valet attendant before getting Pepper’s door. Holding a hand out to her, he smiled. “This is the place you like? Must be a coincidence,” he winked. Bringing Pepper inside, they were immediately sat by the hostess in a more secluded part of the restaurant. 

Pepper was impressed. By the looks of it, Tony had done a lot of planning for this and she was glad to have dressed up a little for it. As they were seated, wine glasses were brought out with a bottle of her favorite white wine, “Compliments of the restaurant,” the waiter said. 

At first it was hard not to talk about work. It was just something Pepper was very used to, catching Tony up on the company and the cleanup at the permanently closed Stark Expo site, how the stocks were slowly creeping back up after the sudden drops when the incident took place. 

“Pepper… not to sound rude, but can we not talk about work?” Tony asked. He was very blunt in his delivery. “No work, no Iron Man… It’s just you and me tonight.”

“Well… since you put it so nicely, I think I can try,” Pepper told him with a smile in which Tony could feel his heart beating a little faster. “Are there any other surprises for me tonight?”

 

Laughing as he sipped his wine, Tony shook his head. “Now why would I tell you that? I can’t give away all of my secrets.”

Chatting over their dinner, Pepper relaxed. This was really nice. Even though she knew about Tony’s more private and personal side while she worked for him, this was different and it was refreshing. For once it felt like she could actually talk to him. Plus, this was a different side to him… and she was beginning to love it.

* * *

After dinner, Tony kept his hand on the small of her back while they left the restaurant. Even though they had been lucky when they arrived, this time they weren’t. Paparazzi were outside snapping pictures and even though he was very used to this, Tony felt very protective of Pepper. He hated seeing anything bad written about her and he knew how ruthless the tabloids could be. “Keep your head down,” he murmured in Pepper’s ear and she obliged.

The camera flashes were blinding and mixed with the wine she had finished, Pepper felt dizzy. Though, she could feel his hand on her back and it was reassuring. 

_“Mr. Stark, is it true you and Miss Potts are a couple now!”_

_“Mr. Stark, give us a smile!”_

_“Mr. Stark!”_

As soon as they were in the car, the sounds were drown out and Pepper held her hand over her face so she couldn’t be photographed easily. She suddenly felt self-conscious about how she looked and what she’d see online in a matter of hours. 

“Don’t worry… I won’t run them over.” Tony smirked as he pulled away from the restaurant, leaving the paparazzi far behind. 

Pepper was silent on the drive back to her place. She knew that would be something she’d have to get used to, but it was still crazy to her. Arriving back to her place, Tony walked her back to her door and she smiled. “Thank you, dinner was really nice.”

“Anything for you, Potts,” Tony smiled.

For a moment, they were both quiet. Even though they had already kissed once before, something about this evening felt crazy to her. The butterflies in Pepper’s stomach were fluttering once again when she leaned in to kiss him. This time was softer, she noticed how soft his lips were and how scratchy his beard was, but she didn’t mind.

“See you Monday?” Tony asked when they pulled apart, and quickly brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Yeah… see you Monday,” Pepper smiled. “Good night, Tony.”


End file.
